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About Magnetic Island
Welcome home! Even if you've never been here, we hope you will feel at home. So to start, let's be on a first-name basis. You can call the island 'Maggie' as the locals do.
Koala family
Sail boat
Farewell Ferry
Koala family
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"I HAVEN'T BEEN
EVERYWHERE
BUT IT'S ON
MY LIST."
Susan Sontag
Maggie - Your own treasure island
ONLY 25 MINUTES by passenger ferry from Townsville, Magnetic Island is located approximately half way between Cairns and the Whitsundays/Airlie Beach. It is within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage listed area – a story book place, full of hidden treasures!
The island boasts a total of 23 pristine bays and beaches, although many of these are only accessible by boat.
MAGNETIC ISLAND NATIONAL PARK would be, after the Great Barrier Reef, the most visited national park in North Queensland. The island is home to koalas, rock wallabies, brush-tail possums and an abundance of birds. Nearly 70% of Magnetic Island (approx. 5184 hectares) is National Park. Twenty-four kilometres of tracks guide visitors through varied terrains. There are also some short walks with pavement, making fantastic views accessible for strollers or wheelchairs.
WHO LIVES THERE? Magnetic Island has the unique distinction of being a suburb of the City of Townsville and one of the only Great Barrier Reef islands to have its own postcode, plus the only freehold land on an island in the Great Barrier Reef. The permanent population of the four towns that service the island – Picnic Bay, Nelly Bay, Arcadia and Horseshoe Bay – is around 2,500.
Magnetic Island has four main residential bays, Picnic, Nelly, Geoffrey and Horseshoe, (plus a few houses located at West Point and Cockle Bay).
WHY IS IT CALLED MAGNETIC ISLAND? Although Captain Cook never even landed on Magnetic Island while sailing past on June 7th, 1770, it was the famous incident, recorded in his journal, where the ship's magnetic compass ‘would not travis well when near it’ that gave the island its name. He then named it 'Magnetical Island or Headland' as he wasn't even sure if it was an island or a peninsula.
YOU CAN CALL IT YUNBENUN – The Aboriginal Traditional Owners, the Wulgurukaba, call Magnetic Island Yunbenun. Wulgurukabu people were ‘canoe’ people who plyed the waters of Cleveland Bay from West Point to Cape Pallarenda.
The new island walkway between Nelly and Geoffrey Bays has been named ‘Gabul Way’, after the great Carpet Snake, Gabul, from a dreaming story. Gabul, who originally came from Herbert River north of Townsville and travelled through nearby Palm Island, Magnetic Island and up the Ross River in Townsville thereby creating the landscape.
Questions? visit our FAQ page...
KOALAS!
Scientists estimate around 800 of them live here.
Home to one of the friendliest, most accessible and healthiest colonies of koalas in Australia, Magnetic Island is your Number One Stop to visit koalas in the wild!
You never know where they will turn up. One even made international news a while back, by walking into a local pub. Yes, just like in the jokes... (Link to news article here).
Visitors who take the famous Forts Walk often spot koalas, but they can be seen on many tracks or even in back yards! If you are in a hurry and want to cuddle one and have your photo taken, you can also visit a local wildlife park display.
Culture and History info:
Passenger & Vehicle Ferries depart regularly every day.
Maggie Island - the Suburb with a Moat
The convenience of suburban life - without the traffic.
Watch for wildlife on the roads! Also, in your garden, at restaurants, on the beach...
Please do not touch or annoy any koalas that you meet in the wild - they will just move off into the hills and that spoils the fun for everyone. Also, it's illegal. Thank you!
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